Reliable and Responsible Married couple (New Zealanders) looking to see the world

About this sitter

Hi there! We're Kathryn (46) and Chet (47), a married couple from New Zealand. We returned to New Zealand in 2017 after taking a year off work to travel the world. During that time we looked after a number of homes and pets around the world and we had a wonderful time getting to meet new people and experiencing life as a local. We have two great passions, animals and travel and we see this as a great way to join the two together in order to have a great experience, meet new people and discover the world.

We were home in New Zealand when covid happened so for the last few years we have mainly been housesitting locally. However, having recently returned from housesitting in the USA over the 2023 Christmas/New Year period we have rediscovered our wanderlust and we are very keen to get back out into the world.

We have decided to commence another world trip in April which we are really excited about. We will be in South Africa volunteering at a wildlife rehabilitation centre until the end of May 2024, and then we will spend the remainder of 2024 travelling around the UK and Europe and North/Central/South America, Ultimately, this means we are quite flexible and open to any consideration of short or long-term housesitting opportunities worldwide. If you would like to discuss any options you may have, then we would love to hear from you.

Why they want to house sit

While we are seasoned travelers already, we feel that housesitting is a wonderful way to experience life as a local and its culture rather than a tourist constantly on the move. In addition, we recognise what a special privilege it is for homeowners to open their homes up to strangers and we have been able to make some great friendships through these experiences. House sitting through this website also appeals from the perspective that we get to look after homeowners beloved pets.

Their experience

We have been house sitting for about 25 years through direct contacts and referrals mainly in New Zealand and Australia. During this time we looked after cats, dogs, birds, mice and farm animals and really enjoyed it. In 2016 we decided to travel the world for a year and found this website and realised that we could housesit worldwide. It has been a wonderful discovery and since then we have been fortunate enough to look after a number of lovely cats and dogs in South Africa, Switzerland, England, Spain and the USA.

Kathryn was raised on a farm and we are both huge animal lovers so in terms of experience with animals, your pets would be in safe hands. We have both been surrounded by pets our whole lives and have in recent years lost our cat and dog to old age so we are well accustomed to looking after older animals too and giving medication if required. We also volunteer at our local SPCA (Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) working with cats, dogs and small animals such as birds, rabbits, mice and rats. We also foster sick, injured and orphaned cats and kittens at home.

In addition, we have completed a number of trips to South Africa to volunteer at various wildlife centres and we can't wait to get back there this year.

What can they bring to the assignment

We are enthusiastic, friendly, very reliable, honest and trust worthy individuals. We are also non-smokers, and have up to date covid boosters as well. We also have credit and criminal checks as well as references that are available upon request.

We will communicate with you as much or as little as you require while you are away and we are not scared of putting in a bit of hard work if required and we enjoy gardening, so we are happy to take care of lawns, gardens etc. Chet is a mechanic by trade so he has a lot of transferable skills that can be used if needed during a housesit, for the maintenance or care of machinery, vehicles, swimming pools etc.

We have completely renovated our last two homes and we treat our home with pride so we can ensure you that your house will be well looked after as well.

We are massive animal lovers and well experienced with a wide range of animals including big dogs, farm animals etc. Our pets Casper (cat) and Blush (dog in photo) passed away of age related illnesses, but during their later years we became very familiar with giving them medicine so we would be comfortable if you needed this help with your pets. Our pets were the most important thing in our lives so we would expect that yours are too and would treat them with extra care and lots of love.